Isaiah 23:6

6 Send word now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live in distant lands!

Isaiah 23:6 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 23:6

Pass ye over to Tarshish
Either to Tartessus in Spain, or to Tarsus in Cilicia, which lay over against them, and to which they might transport themselves, families, and substance, with greater ease; or "to a province of the sea", as the Targum, any other seaport; the Septuagint says to Carthage, which was a colony of the Tyrians; and hither the Assyrian F21 historians say they did transport themselves; though Kimchi thinks this is spoken, not to the Tyrians, but to the merchants that traded with them, to go elsewhere with their merchandise, since their goods could no more be disposed of in that city as usual.

Howl, ye inhabitants of the isle:
of Tyre, as in ( Isaiah 23:2 ) or of every isle, as Aben Ezra, which traded here, because now their commerce was at an end; so Kimchi.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 Apud Hieron. in loc.

Isaiah 23:6 In-Context

4 But now you are put to shame, city of Sidon, for Tyre, the fortress of the sea, says, “Now I am childless; I have no sons or daughters.”
5 When Egypt hears the news about Tyre, there will be great sorrow.
6 Send word now to Tarshish! Wail, you people who live in distant lands!
7 Is this silent ruin all that is left of your once joyous city? What a long history was yours! Think of all the colonists you sent to distant places.
8 Who has brought this disaster on Tyre, that great creator of kingdoms? Her traders were all princes, her merchants were nobles.
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